importance of pulling out the drain plug everytime?

[oglear]

Hello guys fairly new boater here, I got a question and hope the forum's wisdom will help me with this one I currently store my boat in a floating lift like the one in the picture unfortunately the lift's got a problem in one of the tanks and now won't lift the boat up enough for the drain plug to be out of the water when lifted, so the question is, what if I just leave it in always? will it be a problem ? I'm still able to flush the engine with fresh water every time I go out, since at least the lift lifts the boat enough for the intakes to be out of the water so I can flush the engines with fresh water.

thanks in advance.

 

[zipper]

Hello guys fairly new boater here, I got a question and hope the forum's wisdom will help me with this one I currently store my boat in a floating lift like the one in the picture unfortunately the lift's got a problem in one of the tanks and now won't lift the boat up enough for the drain plug to be out of the water when lifted, so the question is, what if I just leave it in always? will it be a problem ? I'm still able to flush the engine with fresh water every time I go out, since at least the lift lifts the boat enough for the intakes to be out of the water so I can flush the engines with fresh water.

thanks in advance.

Lucky to be on a lift. Many of us wet slip at marinas and do not have lifts. We cannot pull our drain plugs for fear of sinking until the boat is on the trailer or lifted out of the water. The drain plug can stay in all season, just be sure you have an operable bilge pump, and it is on while you are on the water. And btw welcome to the Forum.
Edit: The scupper drain (deck drain, no plug) breaking, should not be an issue on a 2020. However some here with m/y's up to 2016 have suffered failures with the plastic fitting.

 

[Dave burke]

I was going to say basically the same thing as @zipper. I wet slip from May to October and other than making sure my batteries are charged and the bilge is working, I don’t worry about it. I did install a second bilge a couple of years ago which is wired directly to the house battery so I can turn my switches off.

 

[sunbyrned]

The only thing I’ll add is one of the reasons why the bilge is important, which is water from rain, even if covered. I probably wouldn’t have thought of this either if I had not been on this forum for a good period of time.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

The only thing I’ll add is one of the reasons why the bilge is important, which is water from rain, even if covered. I probably wouldn’t have thought of this either if I had not been on this forum for a good period of time.

@sunbyrned .... a very valid point. As I wet slip for lengthy periods between hauling and rain water and water from normal boating do get into the bilge I purchased a small Craftsman battery operated shop vac. It sits in the rear trunk of the SUV with two battery packs and I can empty the bilge in about 5 minutes very little fuss. On some of the big boats we had that had 110 volt systems we had 110v shop vacs for the same reason. I'm not totally OCD but I do like to keep the bilge as dry as possible.

 

[oglear]

Lucky to be on a lift. Many of us wet slip at marinas and do not have lifts. We cannot pull our drain plugs for fear of sinking until the boat is on the trailer or lifted out of the water. The drain plug can stay in all season, just be sure you have an operable bilge pump, and it is on while you are on the water. And btw welcome to the Forum.
Edit: The scupper drain (deck drain, no plug) breaking, should not be an issue on a 2020. However some here with m/y's up to 2016 have suffered failures with the plastic fitting.

sweet thank you for the valuable information I appreciate it big time wish you all happy new year !

 

[Beachbummer]

I was in your same situation a few years ago and tried the plug that self drains with a little ball in it that is supposed to closed when submerged. It failed on the 5th use and the boat was taking a lot of water. Don't waste your time on it

Good battery charge and you will be good, just be sure you can handle the rain.